For the MSU graduating class of 2026—MSU’s current seniors—this is especially true. From 2022 until now, it has been four years—four seasons—of watching MSU’s football team lose game after game, creating a feeling of defeat that resonates with Spartan students today.

"MSU hasn’t been very successful since I’ve arrived at MSU, and that’s been a letdown," nursing senior Cameron Bloom said. "My own personal college experience isn’t as good as it could have been. And obviously I’m still appreciative of the Spartans, but there could have been some room for improvement over the last four years."

Bloom arrived on campus in the fall of 2022, a freshman eager to conquer classes, establish new relationships and watch Michigan State football. That fall, MSU was ranked No. 15 in the preseason college football rankings, fresh off of a Peach Bowl winning season where phenom running back Kenneth Walker led MSU to victory upon victory – one of which was against rival Michigan. 

Bloom felt as if he had arrived at MSU during the perfect time. He had hope, things were going to be good, MSU football was rejuvenated – or so he thought. 

Just as quickly as Bloom arrived on campus, his eagerness to watch MSU football was dismantled. Following a 2-0 start in 2022, the Spartans would lose four straight games and finish the highly anticipated season with a grim 5-7 record. The following year former MSU head coach Mel Tucker would be fired, and the Spartans would finish 4-8. The year after that, MSU hired Jonathan Smith as its new head coach, and the Spartans would finish 5-7. Now, nine games into the 2025 season, the feeling of defeat still lingers as MSU possesses a 3-6 record, one loss away from losing its bowl-eligibility. 

In four years, Bloom and the MSU senior class have witnessed its football team go a measly 17-28 in overall play and 8-25 in Big Ten play. These seniors have not seen MSU in the college football ranking since week three of the 2022 season. These seniors have not seen MSU make a bowl game. Worst of all, these seniors have not seen an MSU victory against rival Michigan. 

"[Watching MSU football] has been pretty disappointing," communications senior Rocco Dufourg said. "I’m a very avid sports fan, and one of my favorite aspects of sports is rivalries. So, coming to a school like this where I knew we had a massive rivalry, it made me excited. I just wish we were better at football, and I wish we could put up a fight against Michigan. It’s one thing to lose all four, but it’s another thing to know you’re going to lose all four. It just takes the fun out of the rivalry."

The Spartans have not beaten the Wolverines since 2021; four straight years of frustrating defeat – some games close, other games blowouts, but all games lost. Dufourg and Bloom and other Spartan seniors will never possess the ability to have bragging rights, never burn victory couches in the streets, never know what it’s like to experience a rivalry win as an MSU student. 

For economics senior Jacob Richter, the feelings and emotions are the same as Dufourg’s and Bloom’s: he’s disappointed, frustrated and shocked that MSU hasn't figured it out. One thing he points the blame to is the recent changes in college athletics. 

"I think [the Michigan/Michigan State rivalry] is terrible now because of the NIL and the transfer portal," Richter said. "There are players who just don’t know about the rivalry. They come into the game, they’re not as fired up as the fans. It feels like the game is just losing its impact, especially this year."

This season MSU brought in 23 players from the transfer portal. The year before that it brought in 61. In Richter’s view, these are players who do not understand the deeper meaning of a rivalry that means so much to the green and white. 

Bloom and Dufourg have similar views as Richter, but both emphasize how MSU must adapt to the changes of college athletics in order to win again. Bloom was also adamant for a change at the head coaching position. 

"[Jonathan] Smith is a good coach, but he’s a west coast coach," Bloom said. "He doesn’t have that midwest grit to him."

Whatever the answer is for this struggling MSU football program, the effects of defeat have been felt far and wide. For not just seniors but also for other students and fans, experiences have been stripped, frustrations have mounted, hope has been lost. For these seniors, four years of watching inefficient football is time never to be regained. 

And the time is ticking with haste for the class of 2026 and for what little hope they have left. One more loss and MSU football loses its final opportunity to give these seniors what they believe they deserve: a bowl game, and possibly even a winning season. 

It wouldn't be much, but it would be win for a winless class of 2026. 

"I feel bad for the seniors because they haven’t seen a good football team," packaging junior Michael Mizner said. "Growing up, you saw the 2010 Spartans actually compete and have really good seasons, and now they haven’t been good since 2021. I just hope I have at least one year where I can see success like the 2021 season, or at least a bowl game or a victory over Michigan."

The words Mizner wishes for are the hopes and desires shared by all juniors, sophomores, freshmen—by all students and Spartan fans. It may be too late for Smith and his MSU squad to salvage a successful season for the class of 2026, but it’s not too late to salvage success for the classes that will follow: to see a win against Michigan, to see a bowl game appearance, to see a winning season—and all the positive experiences that blossom because of it.

"The world doesn’t end when our sports teams aren’t good," Bloom said. "Basketball's good, hockey’s good. Ya know, for football, it just wasn’t our time."